Inquiry Project Update... again

 Turns out that the focus of my inquiry project changed AGAIN. Well, it's still on math anxiety but I've chosen to take it in a totally different direction. I'll summarize the whole process here. 

I initially chose math anxiety as a topic because it was something that I really had no idea about. It comes up in everyday conversation with self-proclaimed "non-math" people, it comes up in the classroom at our practicum schools, and it comes up in discussions in our classes as well. I initially thought it must have something to do with confidence. I figured that math anxiety is what happens when you just don't think you are good at math, or you think you can't be good at math. If students experiencing math anxiety could just boost their confidence and develop a growth mindset, then their problems would be solved. 

Well, it turns out it's a whole lot more complicated than that. Confidence is indeed one aspect, but there are a lot more moving parts. I went deep down the rabbit hole and read way more papers than were probably recommended for this project and ended up with a complex web of causes and correlations that help explain math anxiety. And yet none of them agreed with my own experience. I love math, I love high stakes testing, I love being put on a timer, having one right answer, and being competitive with myself. Oh, and I'm female which apparently is also positively correlated with math anxiety. So what is this topic just so darn complex, and why does none of it agree with my own experience? 

I found a paper that turned all of this on its head and provided a key to unlock some of the complexity and join my own experience with all the other literature on math anxiety. I won't spoil it before the presentation, but it's opened up a new, related, and now obvious topic for Inquiry 2. 

The process of inquiry this term was both frustrating (in a good way) and interesting. I quite enjoy going down a path not knowing where it will lead, and I enjoy being totally wrong even more. This process had both of those components. I don't have a neat little package to wrap up and present to the class tomorrow, and I think that's the best part. 

Here is the link to the presentation.

Here is the link to the updated annotated bibliography.